The twisted teenager who allegedly beheaded his mom’s boyfriend in Staten Island reportedly scooped the victim’s brains out with a spoon and put them in a blender, police sources said. It wasn’t clear what Damien Hurstel intended to do with the gray matter, which was found in the kitchen appliance at the scene.
Cops said the 19-year-old confessed to stabbing his mother’s live-in boyfriend, Anthony Casalaspro, and sawing off his head inside the family’s Cary Avenue home in West Brighton on October 6. The 45-year-old victim’s remains were found with a plastic soup ladle on the torso, and his head beside him with a spoon sticking out, according to a photo obtained by The Post.
Hurstel, who is facing second-degree murder, manslaughter, and weapons charges, was transferred from a hospital to solitary confinement in Rikers Island jail earlier this week, said his lawyer Mark Fonte. Fonte met with his client on Friday before a hearing in Richmond County Supreme Court.
“It was chilling,” Fonte said of meeting the teen in person. “He was having a real difficult time separating fantasy from reality.” The lawyer entered a not guilty by reason of insanity plea on Hurstel’s behalf and added, “He wasn’t sure what really happened.”
Fonte shared that when he asked Hurstel why he ended up going to the hospital after his arrest, the teen replied that he thought he had been in a fight. “‘I think I might have fought two other people in there,’” Fonte recalled his client saying. “‘I remember punching one in the face but I’m not really sure that happened. I don’t know if that’s like something I’m imagining, or if it really happened.’”
Hurstel also wasn’t sure if he was taking medication while at Rikers, the lawyer said.
In a chilling encounter, the teenager showed his sister the bloody scene in the family’s bathroom after he beheaded Casalaspro and asked the 16-year-old if she wanted their mother to live, mom Alicia Zayas, 39, exclusively told The Post.
“She said, ‘Are you gonna hurt mom?’” Zayas recounted of her daughter Bri’s interaction with her blood-soaked son. “And he said, ‘Do you want her to live?’ And she said, ‘Yes, please.’”
After this, the sister asked if she could leave the family bathroom. She then ran outside to call their mother and warn her.
Hurstel reportedly began experiencing hallucinations when he was 13 and drew pictures to show his mom the horrific scenes he was seeing. That’s when he first went on antipsychotic medication, Zayas said.
Zayas monitored Hurstel’s condition throughout his teenage years, but once he turned 18, she was shut out. According to her, doctors at Richmond University Medical Center changed Hurstel’s medication in January without notifying her, which she claims caused her son’s condition to worsen.
The medical center stated it does not disclose information about patients or the care they receive.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/18/us-news/nyc-teen-who-allegedly-beheaded-moms-boyfriend-put-brains-in-blender-police-sources/